SB Nation User Blog: Chris Nelson

Masakazu Imanari vs. Justin "The Shocker" Cruz from DEEP Cage Impact - December 19, 2009 Imanari...

Chris Nelson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:49:01 -0000

Masakazu Imanari vs. Justin "The Shocker" Cruz
from DEEP Cage Impact - December 19, 2009

Imanari is DEEP's bantamweight ace, and Cruz is a champion in both URCC and Guam's PXC promotions.

A pair of lesser-seen fights from Jose Aldo (18 years old here) and Marlon Sandro, Nova União ...

Chris Nelson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:18:50 -0000

A pair of lesser-seen fights from Jose Aldo (18 years old here) and Marlon Sandro, Nova União teammates and respective featherweight champs of WEC and Pancrase. These took place at Shooto Brazil on March 19, 2005.

Current interim middleweight title-holder Yuki Kondo (50-23-7) will face Laughter 7's Takenori Sato...

Chris Nelson — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:45:46 -0000

Current interim middleweight title-holder Yuki Kondo (50-23-7) will face Laughter 7's Takenori Sato (9-6-5) at the first stop on Pancrase's 2010 "Passion Tour," February 7th at Differ Ariake. The winner will challenge current 185-pound King of Pancrase Ichiro Kanai later in the year.

Photo via GBRing.

Q: What’s your ultimate goal? Have you ever thought about moving up to lightweight and fighting in t...

Chris Nelson — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:20:49 -0000

Q: What’s your ultimate goal? Have you ever thought about moving up to lightweight and fighting in the UFC?
CJ: As of now, my goal is to fight in the WEC and become a champion. I have no intention of moving up in weight whatsoever.

- "The Korean Zombie," Chan Sung Jung, speaking to mfight.co.kr. In the same interview, Jung talks B.J. Penn, kickboxing, the FMC debacle in South Korea, and why he wants to fight Hiroyuki Takaya.

Translation via N.O.B.

Deep "Cage Impact 2009" Results: Imanari Subs Cruz, Obiya Outslugs Ise

Chris Nelson — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:41:25 -0000

With an omoplata already in place, submission master Masakazu Imanari added a nasty-looking crossface hold to the equation to get Guam's Justin Cruz to tap in the first round of their 136-pound bout. Photo via GBRing.

View full size photo »

Deep's cage wasn't white, nor was its netting made of Space Age fishing material, but the Japanese indy promotion still put on an exciting show - if one marred by an almost comical number of groin strikes - for its first time in the structure. "Cage Impact 2009" took place last night at Tokyo's Differ Ariake arena, a two-part, 17-bout, six-hour fight festival (so expanded to accommodate the horde of Japanese fighters eager for high-level cage experience).

In the first segment's main event, Deep 135-pound ace Masakazu Imanari made quick work of URCC bantamweight champ Justin "The Shocker" Cruz, using an unusual homespun submission to end the non-title affair halfway through the first round.

Here's the call from Tony Loiseleur's clutch live play-by-play for Sherdog (still readable in full if you didn't stay up late last night):

Imanari has taken the center, and Aoki is shouting instructions, "slowly get close! Slowly get close!" Cruz dropping low kicks and punches from just out of range. Cruz lunges with some punches and a low kick, lands the low. Imanari lunges with a punch of his own, throws on the guillotine, and Cruz pops out.

Imanari locks up an omaplata to try and reverse, throws some odd elbows at Cruz's trapped arm. Then Imanari sits back at an odd angle, behind Cruz's head, and wraps his hands around Cruz's chin, wrenching his head back in a very painful looking face lock. Cruz taps at 2:39 of the first round.

. . .

Imanari had the omaplata sunk in, and I suppose Cruz attempted to roll out of it. Imanari's body looked like it was perpendicular underneath Cruz as he flopped to his back. Imanari then reached down and just wrenched Cruz's chin, for the facelock finish.

For the nightcap, former lightweight champion Nobuhiro Obiya made his first appearance in over a year an impressive one, showing no signs of ring rust or trouble from his (formerly) damaged eye socket as he knocked out the very tough Toshikazu "Ise" Iseno in the second frame.

Full results (and a look at the cage) from the show in the extended entry.

Part 1
1 - 165 LBS - Yu (1-0) def. Koji Kashikura (0-2) via TKO (punches) R1 1:08
2 - 145 LBS - Yasuhiro Motomura (3-3) def. Yong Bok Gil (0-1) via DQ (accidental knees to the groin) R2
3 - 155 LBS - Sadao Kondo (5-0-1) def. Atsuhiro Tsuboi (6-13-4) via unanimous decision R2 5:00
4 - 170 LBS - Kenta Takagi (5-2) def. Teruhiko Kubo (8-10-1) via TKO (doctor stoppage) R1 3:57
5 - 145 LBS - Koichiro Matsumoto (9-2) def. Isamu Sugiuchi (8-9-3) via unanimous decision R2 5:00
6 - 170 LBS - Eiji Ishikawa (18-15-2) def. Yoshitomo Watanabe (7-10-2) via majority decision R2 5:00
7 - 139 LBS - Atsushi Yamamoto (14-6-1) def. Tomoya Miyashita (16-7-8) via unanimous decision R3 5:00
8 - Heavyweight - Yusuke Kawaguchi (11-1) def. Roque Martinez (5-2) via unanimous decision R3 5:00
9 - 136 LBS - Masakazu Imanari (18-7-2) def. Justin Cruz (13-4) via submission (omoplata neck crank) R1 2:39

Part 2
10 - 155 LBS- Yasuhiro Kawasaki (4-1-1) def. Mitsuru "Mike" Yamaguchi (1-1) via TKO (punches) R1 3:03
11 - 137 LBS - Hiryu Okamoto (4-3-1) def. Kaiji Hirano (2-2) via unanimous decision R2 5:00
12 - Heavyweight - Hirohide Fujinuma (7-4-2) def. Makoto (0-1) via TKO (punches) R1 2:50
13 - 155 LBS - Yuki Ito (8-4-8) def. Naoki Matsushita (11-13-9) via TKO (punches) R1 3:05
14 - 205 LBS - Bernard Ackah (4-3) def. Shunji Kosaka (4-2-1) via TKO (punches) R1 0:34
15 - 185 LBS - Ryuta Sakurai (20-15-5) def. Hiroki Sato (6-2-1) via KO (punch) R1
16 - 145 LBS - Toshiaki Kitada (10-4-3) vs. Takeshi Yamazaki (14-10-2) was declared a split draw
17 - 155 LBS - Nobuhiro Obiya (11-3-1) def. Toshikazu "Ise" Iseno (7-6-2) via TKO (punches) R2 1:49

Cage photo by shiroobi.

Bobby Green KO's "Krazy Horse" at King of the Cage

Chris Nelson — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:53:26 -0000

One of MMA's most notorious, Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett (or "Kid Khaos," as he prefers these days), didn't fare well last night in his most meaningful bout since K.J. Noons nearly three years ago.

Matt Clarmont from MMA Recap has the news:

Perhaps the most attention was directed towards the scrap between the popular, young, talented, but inconsistent Bobby "King" Green (12-3) and wildcard Pride veteran Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett (22-16-2). Bennett publicly called out Green during his last KOTC victory's post fight interview, an offer that was graciously accepted by the 23 year old. Before they locked horns, it was announced that this was a match that would determine the top contender for Ricky Legere's 160 lb. Belt.

"Krazy Horse" brought his usual flair to the cage while Green managed his own attention garnering, walking through the crowd in full Santa Clause garb. When the bell rang, Bennett's low hands foretold his own fate. Though he managed to land a few strikes, Green's technique was competent enough to find the uncovered jaw of his opponent, knocking him unconscious a couple of minutes into the fight. The knockout was met by a roar of approval from the estimated 4,000 in attendance.

No video of the fight yet, though there's footage of Green's entrance...

UFC matchmaker Joe Silva's tattoo via All Elbows

Chris Nelson — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:26:15 -0000

UFC matchmaker Joe Silva's tattoo

via All Elbows

Former Sengoku FWGP competitor Nick "The Ninja of Love" Denis made his bantamweight debut against...

Chris Nelson — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:03:36 -0000

Former Sengoku FWGP competitor Nick "The Ninja of Love" Denis made his bantamweight debut against Sean Quinn at Wreck MMA last weekend in Quebec.

HT: ddhutche

New Zealand Grappler Seriously Injured During BJJ Competition

Chris Nelson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:57:44 -0000

This was just passed along to me by ICNZ promoter Neil Swailes:

In the last few seconds of the last round on the Saturday 12th December, Haydn Clasby from Submission Martial Arts (NZ) suffered a serious injury to his neck. This injury was sustained in a controlled BJJ environment and was a freak accident.

Haydn broke one of his vertebrae in his neck and damaged his C5, C6, C7, he is paralysed from the shoulders down at present. At the end of this week they will operate and put a plate into his neck.

At the moment the Doctors are providing worst-case scenario information to us, but due to the complexity of the injury it is going to be a wait and see. So as we all sit here with all our fingers and toes crossed, the initiative has been taken and an account has been opened in Haydn's name at Kiwi Bank.

The aim of this account is to provide funds towards the costs of Haydn's recovery and to help his partner Gen and family as they take extensive time off work to support Haydn during his recovery.

Any contribution no matter how small would be greatly appreciated.

Geoff Grant of GSW Martial Arts has set up a Haydn Clasby Recovery Fund page where anyone can donate any amount they wish via PayPal. Bank account details for direct deposits are also available there for any of Haydn's fellow Kiwis looking to help out.

That URL again: http://www.gsw.co.nz/haydn.html

I'm sure I speak for everyone on the BE staff when I say godspeed to Haydn as he sets out on his road to recovery, and best wishes to his family during this ordeal.

Luciano Azevedo (16-8) will face Kyle Watson (12-6-1) from Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad at Shine...

Chris Nelson — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:15:21 -0000

Luciano Azevedo (16-8) will face Kyle Watson (12-6-1) from Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad at Shine Fights' third show, tentatively scheduled for March 6th, 2010. It will be the Brazilian lightweight's first fight on American soil.

Shine Fights 3
March 6, 2010

Ricardo Mayorga (debut) vs. TBA
Hector Lombard (22-2-1) vs. Alexandre "Cacareco" (18-6)
Murilo "Ninja" Rua (18-10-1) vs. Niko Vitale (26-9)
Danillo "Indio" Villefort (10-3) vs. Nick Thompson (38-12-1)
Fabio Maldonado (13-3) vs. Daniel Tabera (14-2-3)
Luciano Azevedo (16-8) vs. Kyle Watson (12-6-1)

HT: Tatame